In Search of the Unknown Chaptered Version

Part 3

I never felt as weak as I felt at that moment. I thought he was going to strangle me or rape me. I never would have imagined what he did.

He let go of one of my hands and began to reach for my face. I wasn't going to allow him to go any further, so I began to hit him with my now free hand. I threw the hardest punches I could give in such a position, unable to give much buildup to. He didn't flinch at the hits. It felt like I was hitting a rubber.

I searched for anything that was by me. That's when I grabbed a hammer that was laying on the carpeted ground. That's when he put his disgusting hands on my face, and then I slammed the hammer into his jaw.

He toppled over me. The force of the attack pushing him into the large mirror close by. His head slammed into it and slowly slid down to the ground. No blood came out of his body, but he was completely still. The mirror had cracks all over it like a spider's web.

This is when everything changed. The feeling I suddenly felt will be almost impossible to completely describe to you, but I'll try all I can too. You must know this horrid sensation. Imagine suddenly having no skin, or at least feeling like you no longer do. Your hands and fingers no longer look like hands, and you don't recognize your own body. I didn't know what my brain was, it may have well been an amorphous blob of thoughts and worries. You feel like a plastic doll, genderless and sexless. Your hair doesn't exist anymore. Neither do your bones, your nails, your clothes, your skin color are all unknowns. My identity was as malleable as clay.

I looked upon that mirror and saw that I had no face. I was no longer Dominique Lane.

I looked down and saw what seemed to be a mask. I looked closer and saw that it was the face of Dan Recheck. I then looked to see Dan's; I mean that things body on the floor. It was as unknowable as me, it's identity unknown.

His body began to change morph, it contorted, his clothes changed, and his pigment changed as we. I looked at that thing in horror as it became me.

It got up, and it was completely identical to what I was. It's smiled the same as Dan's when it got up, a look of smugness, of triumph. I was so distraught and confused at my existence I no longer could do anything, except perceive.

It looked at me, and it thanked me.

"This new face will be quite useful, I appreciate your contribution, thankyou"

I would have hurled if I had known I had a stomach, yet I did not know.

It walked away, that disgusting smile still plastered on it.

I was alone, I had no face and few options to do anything. Without a face, I could do nothing. The only other face available for the taking was Dan's. It laid there on the ground, inviting me to take it. I did take his face.

His bones, his skin, some of his memories, his life were now mine. I could do nothing else but take his identity. The new Dominique had left, I don't know where it didn't even leave a notice of its departure. It even left my home, which is left with all my possessions, including my ID and bank account information.

I had nowhere to go, and no one would believe me.

I had to stay and be Dan Recheck. I was the anchor, and a news cameraman was hired. I had memorized how Dan acted and I was able to take the role over time. It felt horrific to smile the way he did. It felt like someone hammering nails into my chest, and I nearly broke down on camera the first time I did. The worst part was how easy it was to do, there was no struggle to it. His muscles had memorized the movement of his face.

Life felt horrifying. The person I looked at in the mirror was someone I was petrified of. I was so afraid of reflections I had to hire a therapist. I also discovered that even his alcohol addiction stayed, and it took an uncomfortable amount of time to go sober.

After four years of this, his skin became familiar to be in, and I could live a daily life. I still have nightmares, but I'm scared to go anywhere else.

In the town where the Channel resided, and where I lived, called Rickshaw. I was having a walk around town when I saw posters for the new person campaigning as mayor. His aged face looked familiar, but I have never seen him before in my life. I decided to go to one of his rallies to see what he was planning for our humble town.

He came up, and I realized why I recognized his face.

The smile, the same smile it had was on him. It looked like someone put a massive sticker on his face. It looked as unnatural as when Dan had it, or when I saw it on me. It took another face as its own. My blood rushed through me quickly, and bile rose my up throat. Fear, fear unlike any other came back to haunt me, as I saw it again. It took my face and threw it away as soon as it no longer has a use.

I felt vulnerable again, and I couldn't handle such feelings anymore. I wanted him dead, that thing to finally bleed if it does bleed. I will end this thing's rampage.

I know where I will go once, I kill it, but it will bring me untold of satisfaction seeing the look on its face as I show it what it's like to be prey.

End of excerpt

What made the story more worrying is that Rickshaw is not too far from the town that Dalen, Trevor, and David both live in and work close by.

What happened after the excerpt was all over the local news, Dan Recheck attempted to kill the Mayoral candidate of the town of Rickshaw. The news anchor was luckily stopped by a brave citizen who tackled the would-be killer.

Dan Recheck was later put into court for the crime. The jury would deem Mr. Recheck as mentally unwell and suspected to be schizophrenic and was not given the prison sentence. Instead, he was taken to Covehill's mental hospital, where proper care would be given to him. There was no following news on his state in the hospital.

Without Dan, and the new stain on the channel's history, "Valley and Ridge News" would unceremoniously discontinue on the air. The news network has been shut down for two years.

Dalen was Apprehensive about the idea of making an episode on this. The story hit too close to home, and he felt the story would be too upsetting. David argued that if he wanted to go anywhere, he had to worry less about if he is going too far. He will only go too far when he does not give the story the service it deserves. To David, what Dalen needed to worry about more is if he gives what happened in the story proper respect.

Whether his assessment was correct or not can be disputed, but it convinced Dalen to continue forward. This felt genuine, and David was not going to let this one go. He felt like he was being willed to get this episode made, it almost scared him.

Trevor felt ok with the decision, at least he could finally do his job of editing.